Lyndhurst Farm enjoyed stellar returns at NZ Bloodstock’s Ready to Run 2YO Sale this week.  Mark and Shelley Treweek’s Cambridge operation led the vendor lists by aggregate and average for the sixth year running.

The Treweeks have been preparing Ready to Run style horses for over a decade and have continued to refine their methods.  They sold 19 horses for $3.30 million at an average just over $174,000 this week.

“It’s a very thorough process,” Mark said.  “First we analyse the yearling sales catalogues, looking for the sires that are dominating the premierships and any young sires that we hear are performing well with their trainers.  We then assess their conformation, concentrating on physical specimens that are going to attract attention to our draft.”

As well as offering their own draft of horses at the NZB yearling sales at Karaka, the Treweeks also carry out inspections of the other yearlings on offer and purchase horses they believe are the correct types to take to the Ready to Run Sale.  After the horses have been selected and purchased, stage two of the process begins.

“We like to get them home and broken in as quickly as possible, giving them two or three light preparations before we get them ready to Breeze Up at Te Rapa,” Mark added.

Among the horses sold by Lyndhurst Farm at this week’s Ready to Run Sale was a Dubawi colt that cost $65,000 as a yearling.  He was knocked down to the bid of Michael Stedman Bloodstock for $250,000.  Another highlight came with an Exceed and Excel colt who was purchased as a yearling for $60,000 and sold to Me Tsui of Hong Kong for $350,000.

The professionalism the Lyndhurst Farm prepared juveniles has become a trademark of their draft and is one of the many reasons for the stud’s continued success.